The other day while gardening I heard the neighbors behind me asking their dog in baby talk if he was feeling better. I was not intending to eavesdrop, but hearing them ask him multiple times whether he was feeling better and seemingly waiting for a response from him each time, well that amused me and I felt compelled to continue listening. After the fourth or fifth query (and no discernible response), one of them said, “Well you look better, so you must be better.” And that was the end of that “conversation”.

The neighbors’ monologue with the dog got me to thinking about the way people talk to animals in full sentences (sometimes paragraphs) as if the animals: a) understand; and, b) will respond. Not that I am judging anyone who does this; indeed, I do it every day. I cannot say I really ever considered how I must sound to nearby listeners hearing my one-sided conversation with a pet. I now know it sounds a bit silly to the casual eavesdropper.

I can attest to the fact that pets do seem to understand the general intent of most comments from people’s facial expressions, body language, and tone. I think they also respond based on their own understanding of what the combination of those things mean in context. When I come marching up the stairs and ask our dog Chompers if he ate the cat food AGAIN, he hangs his head, lowers his eyes, and lays back his ears as if admitting his guilt and the shame of the offense. We have both communicated, but I am the only one talking and who knows if the words I said even mattered – it was likely the scowl and the stomping up the stairs that tipped him off (plus, he knew he ate the cat food AGAIN).

I have been trying to keep track of how much I have a one-sided conversation with my pets over the past couple of days and I must confess that I believe I talk to my pets more than people some days.  I can’t help but wonder if my pets question whether I will ever shut up. I would ask them if they tire of my unsolicited chattering directed at them, but I doubt that I would get a straight answer.

I surmise we will continue this odd little dance – where I talk as if they understand me perfectly, and they understand just enough so I don’t have to face the fact that I am speaking mostly for myself. I do find comfort in the notion that I am not alone in this behavior. There are millions of people out there right now talking to everything from hamsters to horses without giving it a second thought, and even though no words are being shared in reciprocity, there is likely lots of love and understanding in those “conversations”.

Another day in the new forty – obla di obla da

Ms. C